


Always and forever

by briefoptimisticspaceaffair



Category: The Magicians (TV)
Genre: Happy Ending, M/M, Multi, Temporary Character Death, Unreliable Narrator
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-05
Updated: 2021-03-05
Packaged: 2021-03-18 00:19:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,163
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29849709
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/briefoptimisticspaceaffair/pseuds/briefoptimisticspaceaffair
Summary: Quentin dies momentarily
Relationships: Quentin Coldwater/Eliot Waugh
Kudos: 11





	Always and forever

**Author's Note:**

> Quentin dies momentarily

They were all scrambling around Black Spire. Margo was with the main group concentrating on magic. Eliot was totally not stalking, his in another-time husband. Quentin had this dumb idea that he should be the jailer or whatever for whatever the fuck was trapped down here. Quentin had basically refused to discuss the mad idea and Eliot was maybe a little mad with him.

Eliot knew that it was his fault that Quentin was going through a slump right now. It had started the moment Eliot had told Q that no, he didn’t want to see if they would work. The light had gone out of Quentin’s eyes and Eliot had let it die. Eliot could practically feel the water basin that Arielle would have smashed over his head for being ‘an utter fool’. God Eliot missed her, the maybe-fake memory of red hair and wry smiles. And Teddy gods, Teddy. 

Eliot took out the god killing gun and shot the fancily dressed motherfucker in the chest. Nobody was going to take his not-husband away before Eliot had a chance to apologize. Eliot’s last hope was for Q to completely understand him. To understand that Eliot did love Quentin, and did want to try with Quentin. Eliot was just, panicking and very scared that he would ruin everything. Eliot didn’t believe he could be the wise man who Quentin had married. Eliot was a fool. 

“No Eliot!” Quentin yelled waving his hands and turning to Eliot. Quentin furrowed his brows and gave Eliot a look. A look that Eliot recognised, a look that said he knew why Eliot was not going to let him be trapped here alone forever. Quentin had always been able to understand Eliot in their life together. Maybe, just maybe they had come back from the mosaic. Maybe that life wasn’t just an echo, a memory. Eliot felt something powerful and dark sink into his body, before Eliot could think to panic he fell asleep. 

~ ~ 

Quentin turned to Eliot, he didn’t know what he was going to say. He just knew that the rush of affection he felt for Eliot, was enough for Quentin to forgive Eliot's reasons for jeopardizing them all. Eliot’s face twisted into a slow grin, something that Quentin had never seen on his face in all their fifty years together. Quentin’s heart turned to ice in his chest. “Eliot?” Quentin quietly said.  
Something flickered across Eliot’s eyes, his cold emotionless eyes. Quentin had never seen Eliot’s eyes look so lifeless. Eliot tilted his head and suddenly looked so sad. Then with a cruel slash of Eliot’s hand the knight collapsed next to Quentin and was dead on the ground. 

Quentin cried out in horror, he didn’t know what to do, what should he do? 

“Will you play with me?” Not-Eliot childishly asked him and Quentin knew that the monster had taken over Eliot’s body. Quentin stared at Eliot’s face, his eyes glowed and the creature inside him tilted Eliot’s head and smiled creepily. 

“Get out of my husband!” Quentin cried filled with fear, anger and a sudden rush of fierce protective love that out shone the feeling he had had when Teddy had broken a leg at school. Quentin saw Alice gasp from her hiding place, she threw Quentin a confused look before disappearing unhelpfully. Quentin wanted to scream after her to come back and help him. She was probably the only person who could de-possesse Eliot right now.

The monster frowned at Quentin in disappointment and then it’s Not-Eliot eyes glowed golden and Quentin forgot.

~ ~

Quentin was back in the main hall place with everyone else, they were all getting ready to unlock the keys. Something about Eliot was tugging at his mind but then Alice came forward and destroyed the keys saying something about magic being too powerful and destructive and that it shouldn’t exist. Quentin was overwhelmed with heartbreak, a deep cutting agony as he knelt on the floor unable to rise. Something about Eliot tugged on his already hurting heart, and it was so much worse than when Eliot had died from old age. Quentin had wrapped him in their quilt and buried him with his bare hands in their garden. Quentin didn’t think he could live through this. 

Julia appeared like a beacon of hope, she tore out her god-hood and re-created the keys. Quentin’s eyes searched for Eliot in the group, he was there but Quentin knew that there was something wrong, he just didn’t know what. 

The feeling of the magic flowing from the mini black spire was indescribable. For a second Qunetin thought everything might be alright, he could get Margo to help him with Eliot and that gut wrenching rejection from back in Fillory. Then it all went to shit. Dean Fogg betrayed them, Quentin wanted to somehow explain that they couldn’t steal the magic, he needed it because something was wrong with his husband. But Quentin was never the best with words. 

~ ~

Brian stumbled awkwardly around the book shop trying to keep a grip on his coffee and new books. He bumped into a lady “sorry”. Brian muttered and exited the shop. A handsome bedraggled man appeared directly in front of Brian, he was giving of homeless vibes. Brian felt a little surprised the man smiled so happily and called him Quentin. Brian found himself returning the man’s infectious smile. “Do you want to play with me?” He asked and for an odd reason Brian’s heart sunk sharply. 

“Sorry I think you’ve got the wrong person”. 

~ ~ 

Quentin woke up in the middle of Greece. The monster was going on about god sommonings and pigs. Quentin looked at Eliot and wanted to curl up and cry and never get up. “Quentin!” Not-Eliot cronned pleased. “I was getting tired of the Brian game,” the monster used Eliot’s face to pout disapprovingly. Quentin was filled with indignant rage that this thing would dare steal Eliot from him. 

“Get out of my husband” Quentin hissed letting his voice drip with poison. The monster leaned back a surprised look on Not-Eliot’s face.

“Oh,” Not-Eliot said. “What does this husband thing mean? Why does it make you so, so mean?” the monster blinked sadly managing to somehow look like a child in Eliot’s ridiculously tall body. 

~ ~ 

“Hello?” Eliot called out his voice echoing around the shrunken lawns of Brakefields. It was completely deserted. 

~ ~ 

Janet didn’t know what the fuck was going on. Some freaky goat guy kept on appearing in her dreams insisting that the ‘King’ fix things. Then she got shanked by some ginger police lady and the freaking music sensation Hans was involved. Oh and some uber driver, but whatever. Her eye was fucking with her as well and then she like tripped or something into this Filory place because goat guy was a dick. Janet kind of missed big-dick-uber-driver. 

Margo woke up in the hare on the ass, (fucking Filory) staring straight at fucking Dionysis in some bad cos-play get up of goat dick. Gods she was pissed. 

~ ~ 

There was some blonde guy in bad clothing in the cottage. And Eliot learned that the monster he had shot was now occupying his body, which sucked. Eliot very much wanted to hit the cottage bar and never come up. Badly dressed Charlton was his only way out of this. Eliot needed to open a door which could only be found in his most suppressed fucked up memory. Yay. Eliot had a ton of those. 

~ ~ 

“Just so you know,” the monster said lightly in Eliot’s voice. “Your husband, he’s not in here, he’s dead”. And just like that Quentin felt his soul die. Eliot was gone.

The thing is Quentin remembered everything that happened in the not-timeline where they got the time key. Quentin remembered the key appearing right after he buried Eliot. Like some twisted fate that the beauty of all life was the hardest thing Quentin had ever had to do. Bury his husband.  
A kinder part of Quentin knew that the beauty of all life could have innocently been the wondrous life he and Eliot had lived out around the mosaic. The sunshine that was Arielle. Their son Teddy. All of it. But a crueler more cynical part of Quentin screamed that of course something so full of magic would only appear to someone who had had all of that beauty taken away when his husband stopped breathing. 

But this was so much worse. They had a chance to really live it all again properly, and not have their fifty years turned into some not-timeline. And sure Eliot was all Eliot about it when Quentin had suggested they try a relationship out high on peach induced memories. 

But Quentin knew Eliot, he was just afraid that they might not work. That Qunetin might stop loving him. Eliot was surprisingly delicate with his heart. Quentin knew him, loved him and would never not love him. They were something so wonderful, so magical. Eliot’s hesitation wouldn’t break anything between them. Eliot was gone, his body stolen by this monster who haunted Quentin with Eliot’s face, his eyes and voice. Eliot was dead. Quentin had lost him twice to death. 

Quentin wasn't going to survive this. He was in so much pain, he’d never felt this much before. 

But magic is born from pain and Quentin Coldwater’s pain was immeasurably powerful. 

~ ~ 

Margo knew she looked amazing. She always looked amazing even as Janet (oh my word she had called herself Janet, fuck Dean Fogg. Editor of a fashion magazine. What bullshit). Margo was the goddamn High King and she would be the goddamn High King even if she was on the edge of a Quentin sized breakdown. Eliot was gone, and it was so hard to live with that knowledge. It was so hard to watch Quentin move like every breath he took in a world without Eliot was full of knives. Goat dick guy wanted Margo to fix Fillory so she was going to fix Fillory. 

Even if that meant watching Fen slowly destroy herself grieving Eliot like Margo was forcing herself to not because otherwise she would never get up again. Josh helped, he was lovely and Margo didn’t know how to do lovely and almost fully destroyed everything. But Josh was lovely enough to forgive her. And then Fen was going to stab her in the back and Margo wasn’t that upset, she was actually pleased that Fen was showing her teeth, Margo always knew Fen was holding back a whole lot of strength. 

~ ~ 

Quentin was lifeless; he was alive but he really had nothing to live for. Not magic, not Julia. Alice was present and trying to be helpful speeding up the process of getting the stone to bleed. She was terrified that Quentin would die because she had read his book and he was going to die in a week. Quentin let her help but he didn’t tell her that he wasn't surprised he was going to die. Quentin was expecting it, he even welcomed it. In the not-timeline life, Quentin had written to his and Eliot’s future selves and arranged the basket of peaches and plums. Kissed Teddy and his children goodbye and died about a week after Eliot. 

~ ~

Alice was tense in the park, fretting about a lady and her dog. Not-Eliot appeared and Alice circled around the back ready to dose Eliot’s body in the blood stone. And then Not-Eliot was smiling at Quentin. And it wasn't the twisted monster smile that was always so wrong on Eliot’s face. It was Eliot’s smile. Maybe the monster had mastered Eliot’s mannerisms, it had been obsessed with learning how to be more like Eliot so Quentin would love it. 

“Q” not-Eliot said in Eliot’s voice “it’s me”. Quentin swallowed down his heart, he couldn’t let the monster trick him. 

“Stop it, come on” Quentin said to the monster but then Not-Eliot was gently touching him and saying “peaches and plums” with a full Eliot Waugh smile. 

~ ~ 

Eliot watched his memory of Quentin follow him around. Eliot had nearly wanted to summon the memory of Quentin from the not-timeline. But Eliot knew that Quentin wouldn’t have been very productive. Quentin back then had been very grabby and Eliot was a little concerned that if he did summon memory-Quentin from the not-timeline, he would just end up even more trapped. Because Eliot knew that all memory-Quentin from the not-timeline would want to do, would be to spend every hour in bed with Eliot. Eliot didn't think he was strong enough to resist a bold and flirty Quentin.

Brakebills memory-Quentin smiled at Eliot from where he stood in front of the ‘suppressed memory’ board. “You sacrifice things for the people you love” Quentin said with a little shrug. 

Fuck Eliot knew what memory it was. A door appeared and Eliot walked into the throne room in White Spire. Past Eliot sat with the taste of peach on his tongue and memories of a life he hadn’t lived in his head. Quentin, their love, Teddy and dying. Eliot watched Past Eliot shoot Quentin down, Eliot hated himself so much. 

“What are you doing?” Eliot said, drawing Past Eliot and Quentin’s attention. Eliot was so indignant with himself. How could he have been so scared that Quentin didn’t actually love him? Quentin was right there asking him to try being together again. 

Eliot loved this man, always had always would. Eliot was so ashamed that his fear had cost the both of them the joy he knew existed. “Just know that when I’m braver, it’s because I learnt it from you” Eliot told Quentin and closed the distance between them reaching out he murmured and kissed Quentin the way he should have the instant the taste of peach had spread across his tongue and reminded Eliot that he was married to the man he had been hopelessly in love with practically since the day Quentin Coldwater had stumbled like a newly born lamb onto Brakebills lawn and into Eliot’s heart. 

~ ~ 

Eliot opened his eyes. He was in a park, his body felt like he had just come out of a very bad drug trip mixed with heavy drinking, and been hit by a truck. Twice. But Eliot didn’t care. Quentin stood in front of him. “Q,” Eliot breathed “it’s me” Eliot grinned at Quentin, Quentin real Quentin and not just a memory. Qunetin didn’t jump into his arms like Eliot stupidly hoped he would, Eliot wanted to pull Quentin against him and kiss his husband. Quentin frowned, Eliot needed to tell Quentin it really was him. 

“Peaches and plums” Eliot said gently tapping Quentin’s chest, the touch tingled through Eliot “I’m alive in here”. Eliot was so, so happy to see Quentin again. He lived for this man, he breathed for him. Eliot was going to survive this for him. 

“Eliot” Quentin said in response to quiet joy blooming across him, it was like Quentin was alive again. He lit up pulling close, Eliot fully intended to kiss Quentin, Eliot reached out.

“No!” Quentin shouted suddenly pushing Eliot behind him shielding Eliot with his body from Alice who had come out of nowhere. Eliot went blank and woke up back in the cottage.

~ ~ 

There was a sliver of hope, there was something in the West that might just save Eliot so Margo stood in front of Fen and told her to overthrow her or she'd never forgive her. Margo’s wrist’s stung and Josh’s music played in her ears. She left her kingdom with a lizard. Margo was a King, and she would get her Eliot back. 

~ ~ 

Quentin opened his eyes to the room he had spent a lot of time in Brakebills South. When he and Alice had been high on fox magic and fucked liked mad. The door opened and Alice appeared in her underwear. Oh Nope nope nope. Quentin did not want to deal with this, he scrambled for the door apologising to a fox sex crazed Alice. 

Qunetin needed to find Mayakovsky right now and hurry back to the present. The fox sexed him would be with a very vulnerable Alice right now and Quentin didn’t like that idea. Mayakovsky was still an asshole drunk and unhelpful but he seemed to have a sliver of respect for Quentin. Probably because Mayakovsky was on a hubris high that he had completed his time spell.  
“You’re very old” Mayakovsky was saying, peering at Quentin across the top of his ever present vodka bottle. “Your body, not this one but the one you came from, it’s young, but your mind. It is old, still stupid. But Old”. Quentin rolled his eyes. Mayakovsky was such an asshole. But his heart still skipped a beat. Mayakovsky was confirming a theory Quentin had, that even though the life he and Eliot had shared didn’t happen to them. The memories had meant something and were far more than just an afterthought. 

~ ~

Quentin came back to Alice leaning in for a second kiss murmuring something about the first being nice. Quentin felt sorry that Alice was going through a really bad time at the moment, but that did not mean he was going to be all self-sacrificing and give her a pity relationship.

When Alice got out of her funk she would never forgive him for pitying her so much. “No Alice,” Qunetin said, stepping away from her. Alice looked heartbroken and Quentin almost said that he wanted to try again with her, just to get Alice to stop looking so sad. But Quentin needed to be strong. “Alice I’m sorry but you need to understand something about me and Eliot-” Quentin told Alice about their not-life together and the love Quentin had for Eliot. The story spilled out of Quentin like he had unblocked a water dam. 

Alice bristled defensively “you mean at Blackspire when you called him your husband?” Alice curled her lip angrily and Quentin could see her defensive side.“ You know that life never happened-” 

“Alice.” Quentin said firmly before she could hurt them both irreparably. “I am in love with Eliot”. Quentin managed to tell Alice everything about the not-timeline. Teddy, Arielle, his granddaughter Margo, (Teddy loved the stories of Aunt Margo and named his daughter after her. Quentin was not going to tell Margo this. She would be so smug). And Eliot, his husband. Alice looked stunned and also like she was going to lecture him on the side effects of certain magic which emphasised emotions. “Look I know what you want to say magic can have side effect on emotions-”

“Exactly” Alice looked desperate clinging on to a past that Quentin couldn’t re-live. 

“Like the emotion damper potion and also the fox magic” Quentin said firmly. Alice looked uncomfortable because she knew where he was going with this. 

“Alice, when I first came to Brakebills there was so much happening, magic was real, then there was a monster. And the only reason I did not make a move on Eliot during first year was because I thought I would be shot down like a lead balloon. Then the fox magic and you. Please Alice understand that I did love you and I do care for you but the only reason I chose you over Eliot was the circumstance. We were high on fox sex pheromones which helped start our relationship.”  
Quentin tried to be nice, he tried to be gentle but Alice was going to be hurt. 

“It wasn't just that!” Alice insisted “there was more, and you know it, you could feel it, you loved me.” She shuddered a breath looking small and anxious. 

“I’m sorry Alice. Yes it was real, and yes I did love you. But it wasn't perfect, we hurt each other so much”. 

Alice had tears in her eyes “It could be more, we could be better” she said struggling so hard for him. Quentin shook his head sadly. 

“I do love you Alice, I always will. But I don’t love you the way you want me to”. Quentin smoothed down Alice’s hair wrapping her into a hug. “Eliot and I, we got married. We-we love each other.” Alice pulled away but continued to listen. 

“When he managed to tell me he was alive,” Quentin said, his voice thick with emotion. “I knew okay, I know Alice that he still loves me.” Quentin said with an incredible amount of strength and assurance that what he was saying he knew to be true. “I’ve known that man for fifty years. I know he still there and gods, fuck, Alice I can’t live without him”. Quentin dropped his head into his hands and he started to cry overwhelmed with emotion. “I’m so scared that Eliot won’t survive everything the monster has done to him”. 

Alice looked uncomfortable realising it was now her place to be the one comforting Quentin. Alice awkwardly patted Quentin’s back “um, it’s going to be alright”. Alice said painfully stilted. 

~ ~ 

Eliot was having a bit of a rough time in his own head. Having your consciousness shoved into one tiny corner, and then living with the knowledge that the thing possessing your body was tormenting your friends, was not something Eliot would really recommend. No matter what Charlton said.

It was a bit weird that Eliot had two extra people in his head right now and he didn’t want either of them. Eliot obviously couldn’t do much with the Monster possessing him, but Chartlon was really irritating him. Eliot thought it was rude to latch onto the mind of the Monster’s next victim after the Monster had been possessing you, for god knows how long. 

Memories had got Eliot out of here for that one precious moment where he got to see Q. The real Quentin, not just a memory Quentin. Eliot hadn’t re-summoned any memories he had of Quentin. They all felt fake, Eliot just wanted Quentin. 

Eliot was glad he had the chance to make sure that his friends didn’t kill Eliot while he was trapped inside his own mind. He wondered where Margo was. 

Eliot also needed help because he had fucked up his marriage with Quentin by pretending that they weren’t married at all. Eliot concentrated on a particular person and another door appeared. Eliot opened it and walked into the garden he and Quentin had spent far too long on. 

Teddy was sitting on the latest mosaic, he was fifteen and wiser than any teacher Eliot had ever had. “Teddy” Eliot called out softly, making the memory focus on him. 

“Dad,” memory-Teddy huffed “how many times, call me Ted”. Eliot laughed, he had forgotten the few years when Teddy had insisted on being called Ted because ‘he was a grown up’. Teddy had given up eventually. 

“But you’ll always be my baby Teddy bear” Eliot teased, the familiar words tripping easily off his tongue. Teddy shook his head in exasperation but waved Eliot over to join him. “Hi Teddy” Eliot said softly, dropping a kiss on the top of his son’s head. It still surprised Eliot that he could be a good father, he remembered not wanting the dead baby Fen had lost. And the whole fiasco with Fray. The brief moment Eliot had played at being Fray’s father had, he thought, only proved that if he did get a chance to raise a child, Eliot would only mess it up epically. Teddy proved all of those fears wrong. 

“Ted” Eliot said and Teddy looked in askance at his father. “I need some advice,” Eliot said grimly. 

“You did something to upset Dad didn’t you?” Teddy said, immediately sussing out what was wrong. The memory Eliot had summoned was where he had asked his son’s advice after a particularly bad fight with Quentin. Eliot nodded and told the memory of his son how he had rejected Quentin. 

Teddy was a fine Magician, taught by both Eliot and Quentin. Teddy had left home at twenty to study magic further and build his own life. Memory Teddy digested everything Eliot had told him with a pensive look. “Okay. Well. I think the only option here is to: The Notebook Dad back”. Eliot had forgotten he and Qunetin had raised Teddy with magic meaning they had their own magic version of TV. 

“Just kiss him in the rain?” Eliot said. Teddy made an adorable ew face at the idea of his dad’s making out. Teddy nodded “yes, Dad’s a romantic, you need to woo him back. But please, just make sure I’m not around”. 

~ ~ 

The monster was trapped and Margo was putting pressure on Eliot’s stomach yelling at him to open his fucking eyes. Quentin wanted to stay, but he needed to go throw the monster twins into the seam. Quentin asked Penny 23 to wait and ignored the angry confused look Penny 23 threw at him. 

“When you put it so sweetly,” Eliot said cracking his eyes open and smiling up at Margo. Quentin put a shaky hand on Eliot’s shoulder. “Q” Eliot said. Quentin managed to give Eliot a smile, but he knew he couldn’t linger any longer. Penny was flapping his arms in the background  
Quentin met Margo’s tear filled eyes, “make sure he lives,” Quentin told Margo. 

“Q” Eliot said again with more desperation but Quentin moved away. He had to go otherwise he never would. Penny 23 grabbed Quentin’s arn and then he was standing in the mirror world with Alice and Penny 23. 

~ ~ 

It was simple, throw the trapped monster twins into the seam and then leave. But Everett, power hungry and just plain mean librarian broke the mirror. Alice had said they couldn’t cast in the mirror world, it was too dangerous. Penny 23 and Alice inched closer to Quentin, Penny 23 hovered close. Then Everett said what Quentin didn’t know he needed to hear “your friend, Eliot is safe” and Quentin knew what he had to do. Quentin fixed the mirror.

“Penny” Quentin said and somehow Penny understood Everett was shouting, Quentin threw the bottle into the mirror. Penny grabbed Quentin and Alice and travelled them out of the mirror world leaving Everett yelling as Quentin’s magic bounced multiplying into destruction. Quentin felt something cut across his shoulders. 

~ ~ 

Penny 23 travelled them right into the hospital wing. “What the fuck!” Doctor Lipson yelled, she was hovering over Eliot. “Get out of my surgery room!” 

Quentin felt something eat away at him, he fell to his knees. “Quentin!” Alice said she had noticed blood on Quentin’s back, it was slowly spreading. Quentin fell forwards into darkness. 

“Oh great. Another one I need to fix” Lipson drawled irritably. “Out! Out! Just leave him there, I’ll sort him out”.

“No, it’s a magic cut” Alice gasped terrified she tried to apply pressure but Quentin was losing too much blood. Alice twisted her hands forming spells around Quentin, but he was already gone.

~ ~ 

Eliot woke slowly blinking against shuttered daylight “Oh you're awake” Doctor Lipson said “be careful, you have a lot of painkillers in your system”. Lipson stood a little to Eliot’s left a wry smile on her lips. “Good to see you Mr Waugh”.

Margo came bursting in looking an absolute mess; her hair was a tangled disgrace. 

“Eliot” Margo breathed, appearing by Eliot’s shoulder and gripping his hand hard.

“No sudden movements”. Lipson instructed Eliot, “your stomach was one hell of a mess, so be careful”. Lipson swept out of sight.

Margo sobbed “don’t ever leave me again”. Margo commanded said wetly Eliot made a soft humming noise in agreement. Having his stomach on the outside was not fun.

“Bambi, where’s Q?” Eliot said winching as a dull pain shot through his abdomen. Margo stilled her face turned ashen, she looked like she wanted to throw up. “Margo?” Eliot asked, searching Margo’s face for answers. 

“Fuck. I’m so sorry Eliot” Margo said fresh tears appearing in her eyes. Eliot’s heart turned to lead, something was wrong, something was very very wrong. 

“Where’s Quentin”. Eliot demanded he struggled to sit up, ignoring the flare of dull pain. Eliot needed to find Quentin. 

“No, El” Margo said gently with concern, putting pressure on Eliot’s shoulder to keep him in the hospital bed. 

“Margo, where is Quentin?” Eliot asked Margo desperation and fear in his eyes. Margo sobbed. 

“Q’s dead Eliot”. Eliot’s eyes rolled to the back of his head and he slumped back onto the bed. He had lost consciousness. 

~ ~ 

Quentin stood in a corner of the elevator. He was gripping onto the mirror bars for dear life. This wasn’t right, Quentin should be back in the hospital with Eliot. Not in an elevator halfway to the underworld. The elevator came to a halt and the doors opened with a ping.

Penny, in his ridiculous librarian suit, was waiting. He smiled at Quentin. 

Quentin sat numbly on the chair Penny had guided him to. Penny was being nice, Quentin couldn’t appreciate it. Penny had even got Quentin a hot chocolate which Quentin didn’t touch. 

“I can’t move on” Quentin said, he couldn't, he couldn’t leave Eliot, or Julia, Margo, any of them all of them. Quentin couldn’t leave them alone. “I’m sorry Penny”. 

Penny smiled knowingly “yeah, I figured”. Quentin looked up in confusion, tears stung at his eyes. “I don’t think you should leave them all either. I’ve been reading a lot, people’s books and stuff. And you should definitely not be dead.” Quentin’s head was a flurry of thought 

“Seriously?” 

Penny nodded “And I also happen to hate the whole library system it sucks ass. You and me we’re going to break out”. Penny grinned and stood up. Quentin was confused his heart was pounding in his chest but he was also so hopeful. 

Penny rolled his shoulders and grabbed Quentin's arm, he checked a watch he had on his wrist. “Okay so in about 10 seconds a glitch is going to occur. I read about it”. Sure enough the lights flicked and the floor shuddered. Penny’s grip tightened on Quentin's arm. 

~ ~ 

Penny and Quentin landed in a dark corridor inside Brakebills. Penny was immediately walking down the corridor dragging Quentin behind him. Penny glanced into the rooms along the corridor and then paused. 

“It’s a good thing that me from timeline 23 brought your body back, otherwise you would be dead”. Penny said and opened the door to the room. 

“What?” Quentin asked again “but- you took us back ”. 

Penny pulled a white sheet off the body and Quentin looked down at his own face. “Yes but you are dead so you need to get back into your body”. Quentin looked down at his corpse. He had no idea how to do that. 

“How do I do that?” Quentin asked, 

Penny grimaced. “You can’t. We need to get someone to resurrect you, we got your body and your” Penny gestured at Quentin “soul thing. They just need to be glued together”. Penny pushed his hands together to show gluing them together. Quentin raised his eyebrows trying not to feel skeptical. “Quentin,” Penny said very solemnly, “I need you to be the object” Penny pointed to Quentin’s dead body. 

“What?” 

“Possess yourself doofus”.  
Quentin managed to get his dead body to roll over onto the front, there was a cut along Quentin’s body’s back. Penny made a constipated face and got a needle to hover. Quentin tried to not feel nauseous as Penny carefully sewed the cut shut.  
~ ~ 

Julia was miserable. Her best friend was dead. Quentin was gone, she would never see him again. Julia hugged herself, pain ripped through her heart. Alice was sobbing and saying a eulogy for Quentin over the open fire. Julia was angry with herself, she couldn’t bring Quentin back and it was awful because she could have if she was still a goddess but now she was crippled. Julia had felt magic return to hear along with everyone else when the monsters had been banished. 

It made Julia feel sick that she was normal again. She felt the curl of magic under her skin, an echo of her godly power but still powerful. Julia’s magic had returned and Julia didn’t feel she deserved to have it not when Quentin was dead. 

Julia heard Margo muffle a scream, she looked up and saw a very dead Quentin stumble into the clearing 

~ ~ 

Quentin concentrated very hard on getting his limbs to move, it felt like trying to grip very slippery jelly. Penny was walking next to Quentin’s dead body which Quentin was possessing, Penny kept on saying dumb words of encouragement.  
“You can do it!”  
“Yes Quentin!”  
“Ouch that looked painful”  
“Wait there’s a tree!”

Quentin had a headache coming on from all the sheer willpower he was pouring into holding his dead body upright and getting one leg in front of the other. 

Margo made Quentin’s concentration slip when she suddenly screamed. Quentin winced as his body fell face first into the grass. “Ouch” Penny commented unhelpfully. 

Eliot stood, he was leaning on a walking stick and wearing a black suit. Quentin hated it. Eliot looked drawn and pale. Quentin wanted to tell Eliot that it was okay, he was coming back to him.

Quentin got his dead body to stand up again. “How do I get them to glue me back together?” Quentin hissed at Penny. Kady was very loudly asking if the possessed body was something everyone was seeing right now. 

“Er Julia does it” Penny said “you have to communicate to her that you’re here”. 

Quentin bit back a scream of frustration. How was he supposed to do that? 

“Q?” Eliot’s voice cut through the clearing. Quentin froze and stared at Eliot who was taking several painful looking steps towards Quentin’s corpse. “Is that you?” Eliot asked as he reached out a shaking hand towards Quentin’s corpse. 

Quentin’s heart broke and he blinked against a torrent of tears. 

Julia stood up and a pack of cards fell softly onto the grass. Quentin had an idea, he really fucking hoped this worked. Quentin let his dead body fall back onto the grass. 

Eliot made a soft broken noise and knelt next to Quentin’s corpse. Quentin concentrated, he was the object. 

~ ~  
Julia watched Eliot kneel over the zombie body of Quentin, she was trembling. What was going on? Something moved next to her feet. Julia looked down and saw the pack of cards float up. They suddenly unfurled and Julia watched in shock as the cards moved themselves in an eerily familiar fashion. Julia had watched Quentin do the same thing a million times. “Quentin?” Julia whispered into the night air. 

The cards trembled and fell to the grass Julia looked down at them. They had fallen in a uniformed fashion. Julia read: PLEASE RESURRECT ME JULES LOVE Q

Julia started to cry, Quentin was here. “Oh my god” Kady said reading the cards as well. Julia smiled at Kady. 

“Kady, will you help me?” Julia asked her friend. 

“Of course” Kady said firmly. Julia went over to Quentin’s body. 

“Alice,” Julia said. Alice was right next to Eliot by Quentin’s body “Eliot, Margo. Quentin’s soul is here, we need to bind it to his body”. Alice was crying, she nodded in determination. 

Eliot pressed a kiss to the back of Quentin’s hand, Margo helped him stand. 

They stood in a circle around Quentin’s corpse and together they moved their hands. Julia poured out every inch of power she had. Quentin was going to live again. 

~ ~ 

Quentin awoke with a gasp, he filled his lungs with air. Eliot’s face came into view “Quentin” he was saying. Quentin laughed a little, he was alive everything was going to be okay. 

~ ~ 

Penny sat morosely on a chair in the cottage. Penny was happy that Quentin was alive. Because Quentin was back none of the horrible shit that Penny had read about was going to happen. It was basically all rainbows and sunshine from now on. Penny was happy. It just sucked that he couldn’t join his friends. 

Unlike Quentin, Penny didn’t have a body to go back to. He was stuck being dead and was currently hiding from the library. The Library was dealing with a massive crisis at the moment so Penny didn’t need to worry about his whole binding contract for a long time. 

Penny pouted watching the other version of him laugh with Julia and Kady. This sucked.

“Hi Penny!” Hyman Cooper grinned happily appearing around a corner. 

Penny groaned he had forgotten about Hyman. “Leave me alone” Penny grouched. Hyman’s grin fell. Hyman glanced between Penny and the other version of him busy talking with Penny’s friends.

“Oh.” Hyman made a thinking face “I like you Penny, so I’m going to let you in on a secret”. Penny frowned up at Hyman, why was he still here? 

Hyman grinned “My body is in the cottage, it's magically preserved. You can have it”.


End file.
